The role of the digital economy in enhancing green innovation: Evidence from Chinese A-share listed enterprises

•Digital economy significantly boosts green innovation in enterprises.•Reducing financing constraints enhances firms' green innovation capacity.•Digital transformation is a key driver of green innovation.•Stronger impact observed in state-owned and high-pollution enterprises.•Provides actionable insights for policymakers and business leaders. The rapid growth of the digital economy presents both challenges and opportunities for enterprises aiming to innovate sustainably. This study investigates how the digital economy influences green innovation in enterprises, addressing a significant gap in existing research. Utilizing data from A-share listed enterprises from 2007 to 2022, we apply fixed effect and mediation models to examine this relationship. Our findings reveal that the digital economy substantially enhances green innovation by alleviating financing constraints and fostering digital transformation. This effect is especially significant in state-owned enterprises and high-pollution industries. These results underscore the potential of digital advancements to drive sustainable practices, offering practical insights for policymakers and business leaders. Future research could further explore the long-term impacts of digital economy integration on various industry sectors.